Diamond Sutra: Chapter 10

The Buddha then continued, “What do you think, Subhuti? When I was in a previous life, with Dipankara Buddha, did I receive any definite teaching or attain any degree of self-control, whereby I later became a Buddha?”

“No, honorable one. When you were a disciple of Dipankara Buddha, in truth, you received no definite teaching, nor did you attain any definite degree of self-control.”

“Subhuti, know also that if any Buddha would say, ‘I will create a paradise,’ he would speak falsely. Why? Because a paradise cannot be created nor can it not be uncreated.”

“A disciple should develop a mind which is in no way dependent upon sights, sounds, smells, tastes, sensory sensations or any mental conceptions. A disciple should develop a mind which does not rely on anything.”

“Therefore, Subhuti, the minds of all disciples should be purified of all thoughts that relate to seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching, and discriminating. They should use their minds spontaneously and naturally, without being constrained by preconceived notions arising from the senses.”

“Suppose, Subhuti, a man had an enormous body. Would the sense of personal existence he had also be enormous?”

“Yes, indeed, Buddha,” Subhuti answered. “His sense of personal existence would be enormous. But the Buddha has taught that personal existence is just a name, for it is in fact neither existence nor non-existence. So it only has the name ‘personal existence’.”